Tory cuts have seen councils eat into their reserves – Andrew Gwynne

Andrew Gwynne MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, responding to Financial Times analysis which highlights that nearly half of councils in England have run down their financial reserves, said:

“Tory cuts have seen councils eat into their reserves, and meeting the rising demand for core services is becoming almost impossible for many.

“The National Audit Office has told us what this will mean: 1 in 10 councils with social care obligations will have exhausted their reserves within the next three years. We have already seen one Tory Council collapse under the pressure – how many more need to fail before the Government acts?

“Over the last eight years, this Government has utterly failed local government, and local people are paying the price. We need to elect as many Labour councillors as possible on 3 May to stand up to the Conservatives’ cuts.”